PREVIEW: The first ebt 2018 tournaments in Poland and Germany will be played this weekend, with the Summer Superliga entering its second season and the Beach Cup Flittard reaching its 19th anniversary.

Second edition of PGNiG Summer Superliga begins

This weekend sees the launch of Poland’s premier beach handball competition, the PGNiG Summer Superliga, as well as the first event of the season in Germany, the Beach Cup Flittard, with many teams on the hunt for their first points of the European Beach Tour 2018.

Following the successful introduction of the competition in 2017, the PGNiG Summer Superliga has already become a highlight of the Polish and European calendar. In 2017, there were six tournaments with more than 30 teams participating overall, including 10 sides from outside of Poland.

In 2018, there will be five PGNiG Summer Superliga tournaments – two in Poznan, one in Wroclaw, one in Mielno and one in Warsaw, with the last taking place in July.

“We are pleased with the growing organisational level of Polish tournaments, which is confirmed by the nomination of Stare Jablonki for the organisation of the final of the European club championship. Polish clubs and women's representation are also achieving better results in the international arena,” Chairman of the Polish Beach Handball Committee Marek Goralczyk told the official website for the event.

The first Summer Superliga tournament of 2018 will be played on Friday and Saturday in Poznan, with a total of 12 teams competing between the men’s and women’s events. Winners of the 2017 Summer Superliga, men’s team BHT Auto Forum Petra Plock and women’s side BHT GRU Juko Piotrkow Trybunalski, will both begin defence of their titles in Poznan this weekend.

Summer Superliga matches will be live streamed on both Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday, the beach handball season opens in Germany with the 19th Beach Cup Flittard in Cologne, where the VELUX EHF Champions League title will be decided the following weekend.

13 women’s teams and 17 men’s squads will contest the available trophies and ebt points, including the top-ranked women’s side from the ebt 2017, Westsite Amsterdam.

All matches will be streamed live, with day one games available here and day two here.